Contextualizing Haitian Art: Visual dimensions and artistic expressions of the Haitian Revolution

Saint Domingue, now known as Haiti, is widely cited as the first Free Black Republic, is considered the revolutionary vanguard by which subsequent insurgent endeavors and revolts would come to solidify their independence in the Caribbean. Through careful coordination of social, spiritual and intellectual organizing Haiti would take up what would seem to be an Impossible undertaking, one that would require a profound envisage that transcended beyond their immediate material conditions and state of subjugation. These precursors of would-be rebellions stemmed from political formations, mobilization outside of the plantation (Marronage) and/or fundamental repudiations of colonization and enslaved labor. The overall depth of analysis for this paper will look at the role of art as a central archive for these historical events specifically in the context of the Haitian Revolution which took place from 1791-1804 and related socio-cultural paradigms. In the ongoing discourse regarding modes of transmissions in the Age of Revolutions, I would add that visual art of the period, surviving creative archival holdings, and the visual interpretations of these historiographies are significant modes that house a wealth of spiritual codes, symbols and nuances facts about the Haitian Revolution.